Outdoor Retailer Summer: Learning, Connecting, and Inspiring Innovation

Learn. Connect. Innovate.

This is the framework that guided our conversations and collaborations at Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City this June. 

From learning about outdoor recreation participation trends, to innovating solutions for phasing out harmful chemicals in outdoor products, to connecting with industry peers and allies, we united a collective of catalysts for meaningful change. 

Thank you to everyone who attended our education sessions and stopped by our booth to share ideas and forge connections. Together we will continue to tread a path towards climate positivity, increased outdoor inclusivity, and a healthy outdoor economy. 

Read on for a recap of our Outdoor Retailer adventure. 

Day Zero: OIA Member event at evo 

We started Outdoor Retailer with a bang at our welcome party at evo Salt Lake. Attendees enjoyed a live DJ, food trucks, a rooftop bar, gear giveaway spoils, and friendly conversations with industry peers and fellow outdoor enthusiasts. 

      

Day One: Celebrating Juneteenth, DEI, and a more diverse and young new participant base 

We kicked off Day One with a community breakfast gathering where we heard from our President Kent Ebersole, COO Dr. Arlene Charles, and keynote speaker Will Akuna Robinson. In recognition of the day’s cultural and historical significance, our conversations centered on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and what that looks like in the context of the outdoors. 

Receiving a standing ovation from attendees, Will Akuna Robinson, a Triple Crown Thru-Hiker and community advocate, inspired us and shared anecdotes of healing, discovery, and self-love from his time on the trail.  

“This was about learning how to live again, learning how to socialize, learning how to be a part of a community. Two days in, and I had my trail family,” – Will Akuna Robinson. 

We also unveiled our most anticipated research report of the year, our Annual Outdoor Participation Trends Report. Research Director Kelly Davis revealed key insights and narratives around who’s doing what, when, and how outdoors. 

Read the Executive Summary here 

   

 

Day Two: Innovating Sustainable, Climate-Forward Solutions for the Outdoor Industry 

One of the highlights of Day Two was our discussion on ‘forever chemicals’ and our new sustainability program, Clean Chemistry and Materials Coalition, a comprehensive program, working group, and consulting service to provide OIA members with strategies, scalable action plans, and solutions for thoughtfully phasing out these harmful chemicals from their products and navigating sustainability regulations across the country. Our goal is to support members as they innovate on sustainability and build consumer trust in their favorite brands. 

Join CCMC today 

“For the outdoor industry, the path towards phasing out forever chemicals includes finding safer replacement materials that don’t sacrifice performance. Recently, many leading outdoor brands have become committed to phasing out PFAS, and members like REI, Keen, and Patagonia are already supporting the cause by screening products for PFAS and eradicating toxic materials from their own product lines.  

With the new CCMC, OIA looks to catalyze even broader compliance by bringing the entirety of our industry to the forefront of this vital chemical phase-out.” — OIA President Kent Ebersole 

   

 

Day Three: Exploring the Industry’s Foremost Challenges to Business Success 

We wrapped up Day Three of Outdoor Retailer with sessions that delved into some of the most pressing challenges for outdoor businesses today, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, navigating supply chain obstacles, and avoiding potential patent infringement issues. 

Through creative collaboration with industry peers and Q&As with industry experts, we generated solutions in real-time.  

   

 

At Our Booth: Real-Time Data Collection, Real-Time Connection 

We invited OR attendees to engage directly with our Outdoor Participation Trends data by selecting their top three favorite outdoor activities from our list of some of the sports with the highest growth rates in 2022. It came as no surprise that the Outdoor Retailer attendee base enjoys any and all outdoor fun (as evidenced by our stickered-out poster – see below). 

 

Post-Outdoor Retailer: The Movement Continues 

Thank you to everyone who attended our sessions, stopped by our booth, shared ideas with our team, and engaged in our work. Outdoor Retailer presented a wonderful opportunity for our industry to come together and collaborate, but our work doesn’t end here. 

As a member-led collective serving as the outdoor industry’s catalyst for meaningful change, we at OIA are here to support the outdoor industry, people, and the planet year-round.  

Tread the path with us. Join OIA today. 

 

 

Outdoor Retailer Education Session: Ask OIA Anything On Trade

OIA’s international trade program is dedicated to promoting a stable and predictable trade environment for outdoor businesses of all sizes, from domestic manufacturers to those that utilize global value chains to bring product to market. Members of OIA’s Trade Advisory Council (OIATAC) meet regularly to provide advice and guidance on new initiatives to help the bottom line of outdoor companies and to collaborate and exchange new ideas and best practices as they navigate tariffs, supply-chain disruptions, shipping costs and other challenges to their businesses. Watch our presentation from Outdoor Retailer Snow Show 2022 to learn from OIA’s outside trade counsels from Sorini Samet & Associates and members of OIATAC on the latest federal trade updates, challenges to outdoor supply chains and how OIA members are responding.

Moderator: Richard W. Harper, Jr., Director of Government Affairs, Outdoor Industry Association 

Panelists: 

Ron Sorini, Principal, Sorini, Samet & Associates, LLC

Ben Christensen, Vice President of Operations, Simms Fishing Products 

Sara Bowersox, Senior Manager of Global Trade Compliance, Keen Footwear

 

Takeaways from the session include:

  • There is broad, bi-partisan support for getting even tougher on China with regard to trade. Punitive tariffs are likely to remain in place for some time.
  • While Congress and the administration focused on domestic priorities in 2021, there’s a chance we’ll see movement on some outstanding trade items early in 2022, like renewing the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and a package of miscellaneous tariff bills.
  • Outdoor companies are dealing with unprecedented challenges in bringing products to market, from high freight costs to congestion at US ports. Work on addressing these issues has gone up considerably. Some have found success in broadening partners in freight and logistics, adding more options.
  • Looking at the year ahead, outdoor companies are looking for any opportunity to help with their bottom line, from leveraging any duty savings, streamlining supply chains to developing multiple vendor relationships.

Outdoor Retailer Industry Lunch: Engage Into Action With The Outdoorist Oath

The recently announced “Outdoorist Oath” is a new way for ALL people to engage in supporting a thriving planet and thriving people. Watch our panel from Outdoor Retailer Snow Show 2022 to learn more about this action plan to advocate for the planet, inclusion, and adventure. This session provides an in-depth look at why The Oath is necessary and what the founders, Teresa Baker, Jose Gonzàléz and Pattie Gonia with support from their executive director, Gabaccia Moreno, are aiming to achieve through the Oath. Learn more about how you can engage with the Oath now and in the future.

Moderator: Jacob Fisher, Program Coordinator, Outdoor Foundation

Panelists:
Teresa Baker, In Solidarity Project Founder, Chief Trouble Maker and Oath Co-Founder
Jose Gonzalez, Founder at Latino Outdoors, Educator, Creative, Facilitator and Oath Co-Founder
Pattie Gonia, Professional Homosexual, Intersectional Environmentalist, Drag Queen and Oath Co-Founder
Gabaccia Moreno, Conservationist, Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, and Oath Executive Director